Princess Marie Charlotte Amélie Augustine Victoire Clémentine Léopoldine of Belgium was born on 7 June 1840, at the Royal Castle of Laeken, in Laeken, Brussels, Belgium. She was the daughter of Louise Marie, Queen Consort of the Belgians (3 April 1812 - 11 October 1850) and Leopold I, King of the Belgians (1790-1865). Her maternal grandparents were Maria Amalia of the Two Sicilies, Queen Consort of the French (26 April 1782 - 24 March 1866) and Louis-Philippe I, King of the French (6 October 1773 - 26 August 1850). Her paternal grandparents were Augusta of Reuss - Ebersdorf, Duchess Consort of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (19 January 1757 - 16 November 1831) and Franz Frederick Anton, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (15 July 1750 - 9 December 1806). Charlotte's parents were married on 9 August 1832, at the Château de Compiègne, in Compiègne, France. Her siblings were: Prince Louis Philippe Léopold Victor Ernst of Belgium (24 July 1833 - 16 May 1834), Prince Léopold Louis Philippe Marie Victor of Belgium (9 April 1835 - 17 December 1909) and Prince Philippe Eugène Ferdinand Marie Clément Baudouin Léopold George of Belgium (24 March 1837 - 17 November 1905). She was named after her father's first wife, Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales (7 January 1796 - 6 November 1817). She was the daughter of Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (17 May 1768 - 7 August 1821) and George Augustus Frederick, Prince of Wales (12 August 1762 - 26 June 1830). They were married on 2 May 1816, at Carlton House. Princess Charlotte died during childbirth on 6 November 1817. Her mother, Louise Marie died of tuberculosis on 11 October 1850, in Ostend. She was interred at the Royal Crypt of the Church of Notre-Dame de Laeken. Princess Charlotte was raised by the Countess of Hulste and visited her grandmother Maria Amalia, in Claremont. Charlotte of Belgium married Archduke Maximilian of Austria on 27 July 1857, in Brussels. He was the son of Sophie of Bavaria (27 January 1805 - 28 May 1872) and Franz Karl, Archduke of Austria (17 December 1802 - 8 March 1878). Her brother-in-law, Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria was married to Elisabeth of Bavaria, Empress Consort of Austria (1837-1898). She was painted several times by the artist, Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805-1873). In the early 1860s, Napoleon III initiated the French intervention in Mexico. Maximilian accepted the Mexican crown and the couple sailed for the New World. The imperial couple were crowned in 1864, at La Catedral Metropolitana in Mexico City. They settled at the castle of Chapultepec, in Mexico City. As Empress, she was known as Carlota. Months after the coronation, the French began to withdraw their troops from Mexico. Carlota and Maximilian adopted Agustin de Iturbide y Green (2 April 1863 - 3 March 1925). He was the son of Alice Green (c.1836-1892) and Prince Don Ángel Maria de Iturbide y Huarte (2 October 1816 - 21 July 1872). They formally named Agustin their heir on 13 September 1865, with the title His Highness, Prince de Iturbide. They also adopted his cousin, Don Salvador of Iturbide (18 September 1849 - 26 February 1895). He was the son of Princess Rosario Marzan y Guisasola and Salvador de Iturbide y Huarte. In an attempt to save her husband's throne, Carlota returned to Europe, seeking assistance in Paris, Wien, and Rome. Rumors persist that in 1866, Carlota was having an affair with Belgian officer Colonel Alfred van der Smissens and that she gave birth to a son, Maxime Weygand, on 21 January 1867, in Brussels. With the overthrow of the monarchy in 1867, Don Agustin biological family took him first to England and then back to the United States. Her grandmother, Maria Amalia died on 24 March 1866 in exile, at Claremont in Surrey in England. She was buried with her husband at the Chapelle Royale de Dreux, in Dreux. Napoleon III urged Maximilian to abandon Mexico, but he refused to desert his followers. In February 1867, he withdrawed to Santiago de Querétaro, Querétaro Arteaga. The city fell on 15 May 1867, and he was captured. When Maximilian was sentenced to death, Royal's and other persons of prominence pleaded for Maximilian's life, but Juárez refused to commute the sentence. Maximilian of Austria was executed together with his generals Miguel Miramón and Tomás Mejía by a firing squad on 19 June 1867, in the Cerro de las Campanas. His last words were; "Mexicans! Today I die for a fair cause: the freedom and independence of Mexico. May God allow my spilling blood to put an end forever to the disgraces of my new homeland. Viva México!" He was interred early in 1868, at the Imperial Crypt, in Wien, Austria. Carlota spent the rest of her life in seclusion at Miramar Castle, near Trieste, in Italy, and later at the Castle of Bouchout, in Meise, Belgium. Her adoptive son, Salvador de Itúrbide y de Marzán married Baroness Gizella Mikos on 21 June 1871, at Mikosdpuszta castle. They lived in Mikosdpuszta, before they moved to Venice. The couple had three daughters: Maria Josepha, Princess Imperial, Princess Maria Gisela of Mexico and Princess Maria Teresa of Mexico. The Prince of Iturbide died of an appendix rupture on 26 February 1895, in Ajaccio, Corsica. When her adoptive son, Agustin de Iturbide y Green came of age he renounced his claim to the throne and title and returned to Mexico. He later returned to Georgetown where he was a professor of Spanish and French languages, at Georgetown University. Agustin de Iturbide y Green died on 3 March 1925, in Washington DC, United States. He was buried alongside his grandmother, the Empress Anna Maria Huarte, in the Roman Catholic Church of St John the Evangelist, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Carlota died aged 86, on 19 January 1927, at the Bouchout Castle, in Meise, Belgium. She was interred at the Church of Our Lady of Laken, in Brussels-Laken, Belgium. Maxime Weygand was a French military commander in World War I and World War II. Maxime Weygand died on 28 January 1965.
No comments:
Post a Comment